Lu Shangjin wiped the dripping water from his hair with a towel, one leg bent against the headboard, holding his phone in one hand. Usually his expression was cold and distant, but now his features softened, warm as he looked at the little rabbit on the screen like a favored pet.
On the other end, Yan Yi was changing clothes. He had just set his phone down on the bed when Lu Shangjin curved his lips into a smile. The dim yellow wall light accentuated the angles of his face, making him appear even more striking. “I want to watch you change.”
“What… is there to see… you’ve seen me everywhere already.” Beneath the soft rabbit ears, Yan Yi’s skin flushed pink, and he hurriedly moved out of Lu Shangjin’s view to change out of his work clothes.
Grabbing the phone, he didn’t know how to end the video call, yet subconsciously didn’t want to.
“You’re so stingy. Then I’ll undress for you.” Lu Shangjin laughed, tossing his robe aside and changing into the deep blue pajamas by his pillow.
His body bore scars from gunshot wounds, no fewer than Yan Yi’s. In his youth, he treated these marks as badges of honor, relishing combat and challenge.
Tall and broad, his inverted-triangle back tapered to a lean waist, Lu Shangjin turned sideways to the screen, pulling on his pajamas. When he raised his arms, the shark-like muscles revealed several jagged scars.
Yan Yi suddenly clenched his sleeve, his nails digging unconsciously into his palm.
These deep wounds were what Lu Shangjin had endured for him.
Yan Yi had once faced six M2-differentiated alpha opponents. Despite having an A3 top-tier differentiated gland, his youth and inexperience left him struggling against six at once. One alpha had grabbed his neck and thrown him toward a rolling press machine.
The rollers were spiked and barreled toward him at high speed.
At the last moment, Lu Shangjin had grabbed him and rolled out of the way. Several long spikes had scraped across his side and ribs, leaving deep wounds that bled profusely.
——
Noticing Yan Yi’s attention drifting on the screen, Lu Shangjin snapped his fingers, pulling the little rabbit’s focus back.
“Yan Yan, it’s cold at home. When are you coming back?” he asked softly, with no pressure, yet Yan Yi felt an invisible weight pressing down.
“If we were together again… would you have a child with me?” Lu Shangjin asked earnestly, the faint light in his eyes clearly visible.
Yan Yi’s heart pounded painfully against his chest.
A child…
He already had one, though he didn’t dare tell him, afraid of an unpredictable reaction.
“Our fertility rate isn’t high, and even if I did have a child, it might not be the alpha heir you want,” Yan Yi said cautiously, eyes lowered, testing Lu Shangjin’s response.
If possible, he wanted a beloved alpha to care for him during pregnancy. He also didn’t want the child to be born without an alpha father.
“I don’t care. As long as it’s our child, I’ll love it,” Lu Shangjin said gently.
For a pregnant, vulnerable omega, those words were devastating—he nearly melted upon hearing them.
Yan Yi almost blurted out the pregnancy.
These days, Lu Shangjin seemed to have really changed. Though still somewhat domineering in places, he was attentive and considerate, closely matching the ideal alpha Yan Yi had always imagined.
Perhaps he could trust him once. If Lu Shangjin grew cold again, Yan Yi could leave then.
Just as he was about to speak, the screen flashed with an incoming call.
He had meant to hang up, but in his fluster pressed accept.
Xia Jingtian’s voice came through, muffled by car horns: “I’m almost at your bar. Come out and get me. Hey! Damn it! Can you drive, you idiot?!”
Yan Yi’s expression changed slightly, and the call ended abruptly.
On Lu Shangjin’s end, the screen froze for a moment until Yan Yi hung up Xia Jingtian’s call, and then returned to normal.
He raised an eyebrow. “A call?”
Yan Yi looked flustered but tried to answer calmly. “An insurance salesman. You… dry your hair and sleep early. I’ll sleep too.”
“Insurance at three in the morning?” Lu Shangjin narrowed his eyes, carefully observing Yan Yi’s subtle expressions.
The little rabbit tried to avoid his gaze unconsciously. “…Surprising?”
“Oh.” Lu Shangjin was displeased; his mood for a private intimate call with Yan Yi had been ruined by an unknown interruption.
“Then you sleep early too.” His brief words carried his temper, then he hung up.
Yan Yi sensed Lu Shangjin was likely upset but didn’t know how to appease him. Pressing his lips together, he sighed, then called Xia Jingtian back, draping on a coat and heading out.
Downstairs, Xia Jingtian waited at the bar, rubbing his face to shake off exhaustion after ten hours of driving with only two brief stops—borderline fatigue driving.
Seeing Yan Yi descend from the second floor, he sprang up, running quickly and lifting him into his arms. Used to Yan Yi’s frequent frailty, he reflexively released calming pheromones.
He was an M2-differentiated mountain lion alpha. Floppy-eared rabbits naturally feared predators, Lu Shangjin included.
Yan Yi instinctively protected his belly, tensing up.
The calming pheromones from a high-compatibility alpha felt completely different from those from a lower-compatibility one.
Gu Weizao’s pheromones, at about 65% compatibility, barely affected Yan Yi.
Lu Shangjin’s, at 75%, was ordinary—comfortable, safe, but not overwhelming.
Xia Jingtian’s compatibility exceeded 90%. His pheromones were like a potent drug. Simply being near him forced Yan Yi to expend nearly all his energy resisting, terrified of succumbing entirely to the seductive warmth.
Thus, Yan Yi had to cut off all contact with Xia Jingtian. When Xia Jingtian sought him out, it was like someone shoving a pile of heroin directly under his nose.
“Let go of me.” Yan Yi pushed with all his strength, gasping. “Your pheromones… stop…”
His glands were still recovering to J1-level. His heat had just ended, leaving a residual warmth of mating pheromones. The closer he was to Xia Jingtian, the stronger the reaction.
Xia Jingtian struggled to resist the urge to melt Yan Yi into his body, gripping the bar and twisting his own arm to stay conscious.
Luckily, both were high-level and self-controlled enough to avoid losing control.
“What do you want?” Yan Yi asked tiredly, all his energy spent resisting the pheromones.
He thought fleetingly—if his compatibility with Lu Shangjin had been this strong, loving him wouldn’t feel so difficult and lowly.
Even under the intense draw, he had wavered but silently held firm.
“What did Lu Shangjin do to you?” Xia Jingtian asked, scanning him from head to toe. Seeing no injuries and a relatively healthy complexion, he relaxed slightly.
“Nothing.” Yan Yi forced a polite smile, moving behind the bar to make a refreshing mint tea for Xia Jingtian.
This kid had helped him a lot. Despite the pressure of such fervent affection, he had been there in Yan Yi’s toughest moments. He deserved gratitude. Love from a child was not wrong.
Holding the tea, Xia Jingtian hesitated, adamant to ask gently: “Recently… how’s your body?”
“My body?” Yan Yi spread his hands. “Mostly recovered.”
“No, the baby… how is he?” Xia Jingtian had drafted an entire long novel in his head on the way here, still unsure how to mention the fake pregnancy tactfully.
Yan Yi paused, eyes softening like clear water, gently touching his belly. “Baby… so good.”
The rest of Xia Jingtian’s words choked in his throat.
“Maybe tomorrow, we can go to the hospital. A checkup—you don’t need to be afraid. I’ll go with you.” He gripped the mint tea tighter, unwilling to see Yan Yi disappointed. After all, he had longed for a child.